On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Brian Setzer Orchestra
July 2, 1999
Massey Hall, Toronto

Hey kiddies, it's the Mouth here with the lowdown on one of the hottest music extravaganzas that is sweeping the nation this summer. Pulling into Toronto's stuffy Massey Hall, BR-549 and the Brian Setzer Orchestra quickly had the true all-ages (as in all the way from young girls who know what they're after to older people that stopped looking a long time ago) crowd out of the lumpy seats and shakin' their tail feathers tout de suite.

Starting off the show, BR-549 (their name is taken from an old Hee Haw sketch) had the audience humming with their country/swing stylings. Each of these guys had a great look. Guitarist Chuck Mead was doing these kicks that were half kung fu and half Chuck Berry duckwalk. Drummer Hawk Wilson could have passed for Errol Flynn's long-lost brother, and steel guitar and fiddle player Don Herron was a miniature Junior Samples in his overalls. By the end of their 45 minute set, they had the crowd making a spectacle of themselves.

And spectacle it was, as Brian Setzer and his 16-piece orchestra pulled out all the stops. Before we even get to the music, out to the stage appears a complete group consisting of a core rockabilly band and an enormous horn section of 4 trumpets, 4 trombones and 5 sax players. They've all got the matching suits and are seated in front of those flashy music stands that haven't been seen since the days of the Lawrence Welk show.

All through the night we were treated to the horn section and their crazy parodies of how they used to train all the guys who weren't playing at a specific moment to swing those horns to add to the visuals. Then the man himself came out, decked out in an awesome star studded suit and carrying that big ole Gretsch he loves so much (and one of many we hear and see tonight). So before we even hear a note, our eyes are already happy.

It didn't take any longer for our ears to get it good too, as the orchestra exploded instantly with a killer rave up of "Hawaii 5-0"! From then on, it was no looking back. Since this was the first time that Setzer had been in Toronto with this group, he was eager to tear the roof off the sucker. The intensity level never dropped as they wailed through several cuts off the new CD including "This Cat's on a Hot Tin Roof", "Let's Live it Up", "Jump, Jive and Wail" and many more.

Well kiddies, what more can I say? A true rock'n'roll experience that stares you straight in the eye and leaves you jumpin', jivin' and wailin' right in the middle of the street. Let's see Marilyn Manson or Finger 11 pull that off. When this one swings into your town, if you miss it, you're probably already dead.